December 17, 2008

Proof Social Networks Are Not Useless - Especially FriendFeed

Yesterday, AppScout reported that the recently-released Mac OS X 10.5.6 Update is crashing users' systems. As an OS X user, I was concerned. Long ago (well, during my Windows years), I picked up the habit to wait before updating anything computer-related, and that's worked out well for me. And frankly, since switching to a Mac, I can happily report I've had no issues. Needless to say, the combinaton of "Mac + OS X + Update + Crash" in one sentence got me more than a little worried.

After reading the article, I applied the one useful thing I learned from school: question everything. So instead of looking through the comments of that piece written by people I do not know, then double checking that consensus by Googling for even more sources and view points, I asked the question on the social networking sites, specifically FriendFeed, since it is the most intuitive and easiest place to hold discussions. (for me)

I was floored by the feedback. From the mountain of responses (thanks, everyone!) two I learned something new from:

"Three systems so far. all updated fine. I used the [huge] combo updater and did Repair Permissions before and after the install" - Glenn Batuyong

"I always recommend people use Apple's Combo Updates for Mac OS X upgrades. If you own a jailbroken or unlocked iPhone I would not recommend upgrading http://tr.im/2dc1" - Vinko

The best thing about the responses is this: Feedback from real people I know. Because I interact with several or all of the people who left comments on a close to daily basis, we have a rapport; a level of trust, and confidence I do not have with sites and services found via Googling.

That OS X question is not an isolated case. My social networking peers have helped me out on numerous occasions. We've discussed:

I don't know about you, but signing up for and actively participating in social networks has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Where else can I learn this much and amicably discuss topics beneficial to real life situations?